These instruments help students learn to make them sing. Repair expert Strohl comes borrowed from Music & Arts, a Maryland-based band instrument retailer. He tells 17 year-old student Noah Patrick that brass dents are among the most common problems. He remembers one mom who brought in her son’s trombone.

“She picked it up off the bed,” Strohl said, “stuck it up in the air and the trombone slide caught in the ceiling fan and just bent it into a 90 degree angle. That was a new experience.”

This class is a new experience for Patrick.

“Honestly,” Patrick said, “school’s just not really my thing. I’ve always kind of liked building stuff and putting it together. Since I love music, I figured why not do this?”

“It’s like blacksmithing and it takes a number of years,” Earnhart said, “so after two years, our students will be apprenticeship-ready.”

And, Earnhart said that instrument repair techs can make up to $70,000 a year. The current generation of people with those skills is aging. Without ready replacements, the industry could be singing the blues.